A typical top loading automatic clothes washing machine operation will generally consist of the following cycles, when operating in the normal wash function:
1. Fill with Water PA0 2. Wash and Agitate PA0 3. Drain the Water PA0 4. Spin and Drain PA0 5. Fill with Water PA0 6. Rinse and Agitate PA0 7. Drain the Water PA0 8. Spin dry and Drain
There may also be an optional second rinse involved, which would require a repeat of cycles 5 through 8.
Many of the top loading automatic clothes washing machines that are manufactured today for household use are of large or very large capacity, because they are being loaded with a wide variety of items to be washed. These items are made of fabrics containing wool, cotton, polyesters, nylon, other synthetic fabrics and/or combinations thereof. These items range from the very light and delicate (underclothing, etc.) to the most heavy and rugged (jackets, jeans, blankets, bedspreads, mattress covers, towels, etc.). Each of the above fabrics retains water at different rates after the water has been pumped out of the tub at the end of the wash and rinse cycles.
This could present a problem in the spin cycles, even if a conscientious effort has been made to balance the load by placing similar items opposite each other in the tub. The purpose of the agitator during the wash and rinse cycles is, to keep all the items constantly moving and tumbling, so that they can be washed or rinsed properly. Therefore at the end of the wash or rinse cycles all of the items might be mixed. Because of this, there is a good possibility that the load will be unbalanced at the start of the spin or spin-dry cycles, which follow. A minimal imbalance will have no adverse effect, but if the imbalance is sufficient, the basket will wobble, causing the washing machine to make some noise and possibly start banging and move across the floor, and it may even shut itself down automatically. When this happens the washing machine has to be turned off manually and the items in the tub will have to be rearranged. This is all guess work.
The platform of the automatic washing machine (FIG. 1) contains the main working parts of the machine such as the tub, basket, agitator, water pump, transmission, electrical motor, clutch assembly, etc., and is suspended by suspension legs from the top of the side frames of the machine.
When the washing machine has a perfectly balanced load and it is in the spin or spin-dry cycle, the center of the agitator top (FIGS. 1, 3 and 4) is the pivot point for the agitator and basket, and this point will remain fixed or stationary, while the agitator and basket are spinning. When the load is unbalanced, this pivot point will not remain fixed or stationary, but will move around in its own circle. (This will give the impression that the agitator and basket are wobbling, because of their spinning speed). The amount of imbalance will determine the radius of the circle. If the weight of the imbalance is sufficient, it will cause the washing machine platform (FIG. 1) to move around in its own circle and possible to come in contact with the insides of the washing machine frame, resulting in a banging noise and the possibility of the machine moving across the floor.
If the top lid were to be opened while the washing machine is running during one of the spin cycles, whether there is an unbalanced load or not, the safety lid switch would open an electrical circuit, causing the spinning action and possible wobbling movement of the agitator and basket, to slow down and come quickly to a complete stop. When opening the top lid, when the load is unbalanced, the agitator and basket can be observed to be spinning and wobbling at their maximum speed, and rapidly decreasing to a complete stop. Since the speed and movement are directly proportional to each other, e.g.: maximum speed equals maximum wobbling movement, minimal speed equals minimum wobbling movement, it would be very hard to judge with certainty where the unbalanced part of the load is located, because, when the spinning is reduced to a speed, where you can track the items inside the basket, the wobbling has also been reduced to a point where there is hardly any movement. Therefore, there may not be any visible indication of the cause of the imbalance.
The rearranging of the items may have to be performed several times during the spin and/or spin-dry cycles. Trying to guess how to balance the load, can be very irritating and annoying, and if the users suffer from impaired vision or a complete loss of sight, they may not be able to correct this imbalance themselves and they will have to wait until someone can assist them. Also, it is not good for the life of the electrical motor to be turned on and off repeatedly.